NF Feather River Questions

[scall]

Going to be camping at Lake Almanor this weekend (Rocky Point campground). First time in that area for me. I am hoping to do some fishing Saturday morning on the NF Feather. So far checking out google earth i was thinking of heading down Seneca Road to the bridge. Any help on if i am heading in the right direction would be appreciated. Fly patterns as well.

thanks,

-Shaun

[jbeni]

Scall,
I was up there about a month ago and it was sweet. Dry / dropper all day long...Stimi with a copper john, prince, etc.
Not sure about now with the heat all month long. I would stop in the Almanor Fly Shop in Chester, CA. They should be able to give you an idea of where to go...
We fished the N Fk Feather above lake almanor, out of Chester. water should be cool enough still since its flowing off Mt Lassen!
There are a few other creeks back there if you have time to explore!

Good luck.
Beni

[RaffiB]

Hey scall

I havent been down to the section of NF below Almanor for a while, but ya, there is a decent road, mostly gravel/dirt from the dam at Almanor that ultimatley connects with Highway 70, at Caribou Rd. The road crosses the NF feather, a few miles below the dam at a place called Seneca....not really a place, but just a bridge and an old little ghost town. Nto lots of access down there, but there is some. I've personally never had much luck in that stretch. Once it crosses the bridge, road goes away from river and then drops back down at Caribou Powerhouse, probably 6 ior so miles downstream. There are a few gravel roads leading down to the river between the Seneca bridge and Caribou powerhouse, but lots of old mining claims and some sketchy people down there.

There is a hiking trail. that you can access from Caribou powerhouse upstream. I've heard it can take you all the way up to Seneca, along the river, but I've only taken it a few miles upstream. Had better luck in that section above Caribou power house than by Seneca bridge and much better luck in the Caribou PH down to Highway 70 stretch. They occasionally plant the lwoer section, down by the three campgrounds on Caribou Rd, a few miles up from 70

As for patterns, I think anything basis is fine, attractors, dry dropper, terrestrials. That should all work now. Probably morning and evening, with this heat

Report back if you hit that area. One other thing, I think I may have scene something that the Seneca Rd may have been closed for some stretch due to construction, so you may want to check in with Forest Service

Rafdawg

[scall]

Beni Rafdawg thanks for the feedback. was able to get out on NF Feather down seneca road. Drove down to the bridge and decided to keep driving a ways past the mine camps up and away from the river only to turn around and head back because I was short on time and wanted to get some fishing in. Didn't notice any road closures. parked right past the bridge and fished there for about 2 hours. Started out nymphing with no luck, switched over to streamer and it was on. caught fish in each pool following the little riffles working downstream from the bridge. Didn't have too much time to do much of anything else as i had to be back to meet up with the group at the campsite. Hopefully next time i can make it further down to Caribou PH.

Thanks again.

Shaun

[roywest]

I know it's off-topic, but the Caribou area is not just a great area to fish, but a true CA botanical paradise. PM me if you're ever interested...

[grnwtrs]

There is/was a dirt/gravel road just before the Caribou power house that goes up to Butt lake.
That was a shortcut for me to go to Chester for provision at the Holiday market.

Was a pretty good road then, but you may want to get some local knowledge.

Fishing should really turn on after the next couple of weeks.

Good luck!

regards, gene

[mattv-mcfly]

I would try to hit the other streams around almanor instead of the nf below the dam. The stream near seneca is super small, rocky, and overgrown. I explored it last year and was disappointed. Try yellow creek, the upper nf, and butt creek instead. All three are relatively close to lake almanor.